


Memoirs of a L'Cie

by GohanRoxas



Series: Memoirs of Remus Cole [2]
Category: Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy XIII Series
Genre: Bisexual Female Character, F/F, F/M, Lesbian Character, Love Triangles, Multi, Non-Competitive Love Triangle, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, POV Original Character, Romance, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-12-25
Updated: 2014-06-14
Packaged: 2018-03-23 04:34:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 17,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3754729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GohanRoxas/pseuds/GohanRoxas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Remus Cole had lived a pretty good life, all things considered. But then he listened to Snow Villiers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Army's No Match for NORA

We were young, and we were insane. That's how we got into this mess.

My stupid brother thought it was a good idea for our puny little group of wannabe heroes to go to war with the government. Become a resistance force, if you can believe it.

In that moment, I swear I hated Snow Villiers.

"What do we always say, guys?" he called out to Maqui and Yuj.

"The army's no match for NORA!" they replied, striking a pose. Behind them, Lebreau giggled at their antics.

I groaned against the fallen pipe. "Dammit, Snow, why do you hafta keep telling them that?"

"Oh, calm down, Remus," my idiot brother slammed his hand on my back. "It's true, ain't it?" He grinned.

"I hate you."

There was a barrage of gunfire from the opposite side of the runway. PSICOM was really hitting us hard.

"Damn PSICOM," I heard Gadot murmur.

"If you don't like it, you can still go home," Lebreau told him.

Snow broke cover and ran at the PSICOM troops, his fists raised.

"Dammit, Snow!" I shouted, drawing my twin swords and rushing after him.

There was the sound of scuffling feet behind me. Gadot and Lebreau had followed me.

"Good to know I won't die alone," I said pessimistically.

Lebreau smacked me on the back of the head. "Don't be a downer, Remus."

I raised an eyebrow. "I don't see anything to be uppity about, Lebreau. Do you?"

She scoffed, her gaze flicking briefly to Gadot. It wasn't long, but it was enough for me to realise.

"Oh, I get it." I smiled for the first time since we arrived.

Lebreau blushed (which was totally out of character).

PSICOM opened fire on Snow again, who dodged the bullets even as he marched towards the soldiers, landing punches to take them down.

Gadot roared his defiance and ran towards the PSICOM troops, his gun flaring. Meanwhile, Lebreau was strutting (literally) with her gun resting on her shoulder. Every once in a while she would lower it and fire.

"Cover me!" I shouted at them.

Gadot complied immediately, his gun working overtime. I dashed past him and stood side-by-side with Snow, who was clenching his fists.

"The usual?" he asked me, grinning.

"I still hate you, but yes," was my reply.

He roared and ran towards the soldiers, landing punch after punch.

I leapt over him and flailed with my swords, cutting down troops as I fell. Any who were distracted by me were immediately felled by Snow.

When I landed, Snow grinned at me. I couldn't help but grin back.

* * *

Gadot, Lebreau, Maqui and Yuj walked towards the people who'd been on the most recent Purge train.

Snow followed them. "Everyone OK?"

The crowd did not respond.

I moved forward and smiled kindly at them, particularly at some small figures in the 'uniforms' of the Purge. "Listen, no matter what happens, we'll keep you safe, and…"

A bearded man interrupted me. "We wanna fight too!"

"You can't expect us to just sit here!" another man added.

I looked hesitantly at Snow.

"Please! Let us help!" the first man pleaded.

"Could help," Gadot murmured.

Snow nodded slightly. "Okay. Volunteers front and centre."

Maqui and Yuj started handing out weapons they'd picked up from fallen members of PSICOM.

I turned to see a commotion in the crowd. A woman with grey hair was standing up, despite protests from her son. "Mom?" he murmured.

"It's okay," she assured him. She stepped forward and picked up one of the last guns.

I eyed her seriously. "You're sure?"

She cocked the gun and gave me her own serious look. "Yeah. Moms are tough."

Snow picked up the last gun and held it up in front of the crowd. "Okay, who wants it?" He held it out to the boy.

"No-no-no-no," he stuttered, backing away.

A girl in the Purge robes got up onto her knees, her arms out. "Here!" she said in an odd accent. It wasn't one I'd heard before.

Snow handed the gun to her. "If worst comes to worst, keep 'em safe," he told her.

She tossed it around in her hands before pointing it at Snow. She said, "Bang!" childishly; Snow made some show of being hit by the imaginary bullet.

I chuckled and put my hand on his shoulder. "You're all talk, you know that?"

Snow grinned and punched the air. "We're going home together!"

The group looked puzzled.

"Come on!" Lebreau told them. "Everybody up!"

Gadot started running in the opposite direction. "New recruits, on me!"

"Lebreau, stay with them," I said to her.

"But…"

"Please?"

She laughed and acquiesced.

I gave her a sardonic salute, shifting the swords on my back in doing so, and ran after my brother.

* * *

We waded through the waves of PSICOM, the Purge recruits covering us. The sneering voice of the Primarch continued to spout nonsense about the Purge being for the better of Cocoon. We all knew that was complete bullshit. Especially Snow.

A small air unit started to hover near the roadway; on top of it was a monster. But not just any monster. It leaped down onto the roadway, blocking the path of myself, Gadot and Snow. It roared, a sound that instilled fear in many hearts.

"Shit!" Gadot shouted. "It's a Behemoth!"

"Worse," I said glumly. "It's a PSICOM-altered one. Cyborg."

Snow grinned. "Heroes never back down from a fight."

"Yeah, but we're not heroes," I disagreed.

Gadot laughed. "Yeah we are."

"Don't egg him on!"

The Behemoth charged at us and we dodged.

"Look, we can fight each other when this is over," Snow told us. He ran forward and landed a hammer blow on the monster's tail.

The Behemoth roared and flicked its tail. Snow was thrown into a pile of boxes.

"Gadot, cover fire!" I shouted.

He dropped to his knee and started pummelling the Behemoth with bullets. While he did that, I ran up its tail and tried stabbing it in a gap between its armour. All that did was make it mad.

"Oh, way to go, Remus!" Gadot shouted sarcastically.

"Just shut up and shoot it!" I roared, clinging onto my swords for dear life.

The Behemoth thrashed again and my swords came free; I was thrown to the ground.

The Behemoth suddenly soared into the air. Backwards.

Snow had delivered a sharp uppercut to the Behemoth, sending it reeling.

The monster landed on its back. "Remus! Gadot! Now!" my brother roared.

We nodded and leapt up to the Behemoth's exposed underbelly. Gadot shot it while I plunged my swords into it.

The Behemoth's roar cut off in a horrid gurgling; its struggles ended as it died.

I jumped off and put my swords onto my back, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Uh-oh," Gadot said then.

"Now what?" I asked him, exasperated. I turned around to see a flying mech priming a weapon to fire at us.

Snow started running towards a nearby rocket launcher. He dove at it, but missed.

The rocket careened into the mech, destroying it. We all turned.

The woman from before, the grey-haired mother from the Purge train, smiled and lowered the weapon. "I told you. Moms are tough."

I helped Snow up; an explosion suddenly roared nearby. The roadway had been sabotaged.

The mother gasped as a piece of shrapnel became embedded in her back.

"No!" I roared. A metal shard scratched my arm, ripping a hole in my black jacket. I cried out in pain.

The woman collapsed onto Snow, her breaths shallow. Suddenly the roadway began to separate and collapse.

I fell and began sliding towards the edge. My gloved hands gripped onto the now-exposed wires to stop myself from falling.

Nearby, Snow was clinging to the roadway with one hand; the other contained the hand of the brave mother. She looked up at him with tired eyes. "Get him…home…please…"

"Just hang in there," Snow said hoarsely.

Her grip went slack and she slipped from his hands.

" **NO!** " Snow shouted in anguish, his hand clawing for her.

His grip on the roadway began to slip. He screamed as he fell.

"SNOW!" I roared, my own grip slipping.

I let out my own yell of fear as I fell into the blackness.


	2. Babysitting

_I stared up at the fireworks, a slight smile on my face._ _**If only you could be here to see this,** _ _I thought._

_A hand slammed onto my shoulder; my head moved to spy Snow grinning at me. "Wishing on the fireworks?"_

_I scoffed and pushed his arm off me. "Of course not. You know that's a childish thing to do."_

_"Hey, I wish on them all the time!" he protested._

_"I know," I smirked._

_We laughed; my head moved back to contemplate the sky._

_"Missing your parents?"_

_My fist clenched. "My mom, yeah. My dad can burn in hell. Either way…" I sighed. "I don't have a family."_

_"Hey, don't say that!" Snow protested, his hands on my shoulders. "When your mom died, we took you in. That was ten years ago, man. We…we may not be related by blood, but you're still my brother."_

_I laughed despite myself. "Aren't you spooning that on a bit thick?"_

_"Well, you know what Mom says: Why use a spoon when there's a shovel handy?"_

_I knocked him on the back of the head._

_Snow started shuffling his feet._

_"What now?" I asked him slyly._

_He pulled a pair of necklaces from the pocket of his coat. "I'm gonna propose to Serah."_

_My face broke out in a grin. "About damn time!"_

_"I just hope she says yes."_

_"Of course she will, buddy. She loves you almost as much as she loves Lightning."_

_"Yeah, but…" He stopped himself._

_"But what?"_

_"She broke up with me the other day," he blurted._

_My eyes widened. "What?"_

_"She ended it because…" A small tear started to fall from his eye. "There's something she needs to face."_

_I looked at him._

_Snow looked covertly around and murmured into my ear. "She's a l'Cie."_

_"What?!" I shouted._

_"Don't tell anyone, OK?"_

_I sighed. "Alright. Your secret's safe with me."_

_Snow smiled and nodded. "Thanks." He ran off to find Serah._

_I looked around and spied a pink-haired soldier looking up at the fireworks, much like I had been moments before. I waded through the crowd to get to her and said, "Aren't you a little old to be wishing on fireworks?"_

_She looked at me and gave a slight smile. Lightning was not one who smiled much._

_I crossed my arms. "Let me guess. Amodar just told you about the officer training."_

_She gave me a startled look._

_"Hey, he's a regular at Lebreau's. And when he's drunk, he talks. In fact, it's getting him to shut up that's the hard part."_

_Lightning rolled her eyes. "I'm…scared," she admitted suddenly._

_"What, of becoming an officer? You'll do great."_

_She shook her head. "It's not that. It's tomorrow."_

_"Right. The big two-one, huh? You know, that'll make you older than me."_

_She smirked. "Mention my age and I'll squash you."_

_I laughed. "I don't doubt that." I paused. "Hey, I'll be swinging around your place tomorrow, okay?"_

_"Fine. Just don't bring that idiot brother of yours."_

_"Heh, don't worry. He'll probably show up of his own accord."_

_"True enough," she agreed._

_I vaguely heard Snow shout "She said yes!" triumphantly._

_"What was that?" she asked._

_"Nothing, nothing," I assured her awkwardly._

_She rolled her eyes again and gazed back up at the sky._

* * *

I woke up with a searing pain in my right arm. Groaning, I stood up from the rubble. "Gadot! Snow!"

My brother stood up near me and peered up into the sky. I wheeled around to see a giant structure coming down from the sky.

"Attention Purge deportees. Attention Purge deportees. Lay down your weapons and surrender. Your removal is the will of Cocoon."

I picked up a gun and shot the speaker. "Could never stand Dysley's ramblings before, and I damn sure can't stand them now."

Snow, despite the pain flashing on his face, smiled.

Nearby, Gadot got up painfully, his hand on his left shoulder.

I walked over to him. "You OK?"

He grimaced. "Yeah, fine."

My gaze shifted to his shoulder. I winced. "No you're not. That shoulder's dislocated." I moved his hand and braced my own hands on his shoulder. "Please don't hit me when I do this."

"I'll try not to."

I pushed his shoulder-blade back into place.

Gadot roared in pain and clutched the shoulder.

"You'll be fine. Just…don't try to give anybody an armbar anytime soon, OK?"

He chuckled. "Sure."

Snow walked up to us and pointed up the road. "Check that out."

"Check what out?" I asked, before looking where he was pointing.

A trio of PSICOM soldiers had just landed three airbikes and were guarding them.

I grinned. "I'm guessing you want to check on the kids?"

Snow nodded, also grinning. "Not many better ways to travel than airbike," he said.

I picked up a fallen gun and cocked it. "Then what are we waiting for?"

We ran behind a wall of boxes and hid. "On my go," Snow told me and Gadot, who was holding his gun in one hand.

"Now," the blonde said quietly.

Gadot and I roared our defiance and started strafing the PSICOM guards with bullets. They all went down easy.

"So much for elite forces, huh?" I smiled.

"Hey, you're getting into it!" Snow smirked.

I put on a theatrical scowl and started walking to the airbikes.

Gadot started the engine on his. He groaned. "That's the problem with these things. No soul."

I smiled and started my airbike up; I revved the engine. "Just like back home, huh?"

Snow and Gadot grinned at me.

"Okay," Snow said, excited. "One…two…"

"Three!" I interrupted, taking off. Snow chased after me.

"Hey!" Gadot called to us before flying off himself.

* * *

When we got back, Lebreau, Maqui and Yuj were on guard. In fact they raised their guns at us.

"Whoa! We come in peace!" I assured them.

"It's us, it's us," Snow added. We landed and stepped out of the airbikes. "So, how are things?"

"The army's no match for NORA!" Maqui and Yuj assured us.

"I meant the kids," Snow growled good-humouredly.

Behind them, Lebreau giggled. "They've all been behaving. Even that girl you gave the gun to." She indicated the girl, who was now out of her Purge robe talking to a boy. I gasped lightly. He must've been the son of that woman. The one who saved us. As for the girl, her hair was a darker shade of pink than those I was acquainted with, and she wore knitted clothes and a small fur cape around her waist. Odd fashion-choices, I thought.

"Hey," Gadot interrupted us, "don't you have to pick up the missus?"

Snow nodded and got back into his airbike.

Gadot laughed. "I get stuck babysitting, he goes off chasing skirts? Ha, some husband!"

"I'll be back before dinner," my brother assured him.

"It better be home cooking!" our friend grinned.

I slammed a hand on his shoulder. "So when's the wedding, you two?"

Snow chuckled. "Don't worry, none of you are invited!"

"Hey, what?!" Maqui protested.

"Say hi to Serah for me!" I shouted at Snow.

"Will do." He flew off towards the giant structure that contained his fiancée.

And a fal'Cie.

The other members of NORA fell into conversation with one another when I spotted a light-haired blur cross my field of vision, followed by a pink-haired one. "Hey, what the…"

The boy and the odd girl were stealing Gadot's stolen airbike.

"Hey!" Gadot shouted at them. "Get outta there!"

Shakily, as if he had no idea what he was doing (he probably didn't), the boy took off.

"Dammit," my friend swore to himself.

Wordlessly, I ran to my airbike; I revved it up and raised it off the ground. "I'll get 'em back! You keep the rest of them safe, got it?!"

Gadot nodded.

"Be careful!" Lebreau shouted.

I laughed. "Don't tell me you actually care about me, Lebby?" I deliberately used the pet-name she hated.

Her eyes went flat. "Just get outta here!" She smiled.

I gave her a grin in return and flew after the kids.


	3. Ghouls of the fal'Cie

I landed near where the kids had crashed and leapt up to them. "Hey! What are you two doing?!"

They wheeled to look at me; the girl looked sad, the boy defiant.

"Don't you know what's here? The Pulse fal'Cie, that's what! You know, one of those so-called 'almighty deities' of Cocoon, Pulse and Eden? Are you two out of your minds?!"

The boy suddenly roared and threw a punch at me; I blocked the blow and gripped his arm.

"Don't try anything, kid. You don't wanna piss me off, do you?"

He glared at me, his gaze still defiant. There was a rage there, too.

"Are you even listening to a word I say?" I demanded of him, pushing his arm away.

"Why would I listen to you?!" he shouted, his voice raw. His gloved hands were balled into fists. "It's because of you! If it weren't for you, she…" He trailed off.

My face grew sombre. "Your mom, right?"

He flinched and looked at me.

"Listen, the reason she fought was because she wanted to keep you safe… No matter what the cost."

"What would you know?!" he shouted.

"I know more than you think, kid."

"Just shut up! Shut up!" He ran off.

"Hope!" the girl called after him, her face worried.

"Let him go," I told her. "Best to let him blow off some steam for a while." I chuckled wryly. "Even if this isn't the best place to do it."

She looked down and put her hands in front of her, her index and pinkie fingers crossing over each other.

"Hey…" I put a hand on her shoulder. "It's alright." I paused. "Well, if you're worried about him, maybe we should get after him. Okay?"

She looked up at me and smiled. She nodded. "Thanks."

"No problem." I stood up. "By the way, my name's Remus."

She giggled. "Call me Vanille."

"Vanille, huh? That's a weird name. Where's it from?"

"Oh, you know, around." She gave a sweet smile.

I raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

Vanille went to a nearby gargoyle and pulled out a strange-looking staff. She folded it up and put it in a hidden pocket in her fur cape. "Well, we have to defend ourselves, right?" she responded to my confused look.

I nodded. "Let's get after that kid."

"Hope," she said to me. "His name's Hope."

"Right."

Vanille started running off.

"Hey, wait up!" I ran after her.

* * *

When I finally caught up with her, I started asking questions as we ran. "So why are you two up here anyway?"

"Well, Hope needs to talk to that other man. The one you were hanging out with?"

"You mean Snow?"

"Yeah!"

"Well, by the way Hope reacted to me, I'd guess talking is the furthest thing from his mind when it comes to Snow."

I stopped behind a gargoyle and peered around. A bunch of militarized beasts were mingling around. "Oh great."

"What's wrong?" Vanille asked me.

"We've got company."

She peered around me; I could feel her hand resting lightly on my waist.

"We can't just go rushing in there…" I murmured.

The pressure of Vanille's hand on my waist suddenly vanished; she'd pulled out her odd staff and was running at the beasts.

"Vanille!" I shouted, pulling out my swords and chasing after her.

She was shouting and wheeling that staff around like a whirling dervish. Only thing was that the tips of the weird extension on that staff were lashing out like whips at the beasts. I came in behind her and started slashing at the beasts myself. Mostly Vanille was able to distract them long enough for me to cut them down.

When the last one went down, I heard Vanille giggle behind me. "I'm tougher than I look, huh?"

"Maybe," I shrugged, stepping closer to her, "but that doesn't mean you have to run straight at every enemy that shows up."

Her face fell and she pouted. "Sorry." She twiddled her thumbs.

I chuckled; this girl really knew how to use her cuteness to her advantage. "Come on. Let's go." I started running.

"Hey! Don't leave me behind!" Vanille shouted, chasing after me.

* * *

A little while later, the two of us had reached what resembled a small town square, that kid Hope still nowhere in sight.

Vanille looked around. "Hope? Hope!"

"Quiet!" I warned her. "You have no idea what could be around here."

My point was soon illustrated by the arrival of shambling, blue-grey figures. They had deformed bodies, and only one red eye.

"Like that!" I shouted, drawing my swords.

"What…" Vanille started, reaching for her staff.

"Cie'th," I told her in a deadly voice. "One of those things I was trying to warn you about. Any l'Cie who fail their Focus or don't complete it in time are turned into these…things. They can't die until someone – or something – kills them. Of course, the alternative is completing your Focus and being imprisoned in crystal. Either way, you can see why people shun the l'Cie. They've got a death sentence hanging over their heads no matter what."

"How…sad…" Vanille murmured.

"No time for sad! We gotta fight!" I slashed at one of the Cie'th with my swords, cutting it down.

Vanille was doing her best against the Cie'th, but she looked hesitant.

Soon we were surrounded. "Dammit!" I swore. "There's too many of them!"

A familiar voice roared as one of the Cie'th went down, slowly disintegrating.

The hero had come to the rescue.

Snow launched himself into a powerful combination of punches, taking down Cie'th as he went. I snapped out of my trance and cut down a few of the shambling figures. Vanille was still paralysed, frozen in place.

I killed a Cie'th that tried to hammer her brains out. "Snow! Help me protect Vanille!"

"On it!" he replied, delivering a punch to another shambling figure.

Eventually, we killed the last of the Cie'th. I put my hands on Vanille's shoulders. "You OK?"

"Huh? Y-yeah, I'm fine." She looked up at me and smiled.

"This yours?" Snow asked us, holding Hope by the scruff of the neck. The boy was protesting wildly.

"Hope!" Vanille shouted, rushing to him. "Are you alright?"

Hope wormed his way out of my brother's grip. "I'm fine."

"Well, it's nice to meet you all," Snow told them, "but I gotta go. There's someone I need to see in here."

"Are you insane?!" Hope shouted suddenly. "Anyone in here is either PSICOM or a l'Cie. Not even human! Don't you get it?! The l'Cie are the enemies of Cocoon and you wanna help one of them?!"

"Don't you dare say that!" Snow roared his retort, his finger pointed at Hope's face. "Never say that again!"

"It's the truth, isn't it?" Hope asked pugnaciously.

"That's enough!" I shouted, stepping in between the two of them. "Listen, you two. This isn't the time or place for a discussion like this. So both of you just shut up and let's go.  _Together_. Got that?!"

Hope huffed and turned his back to me; he didn't run. Snow, meanwhile, took a few deep breaths to regain his composure, then nodded.

I shifted my shoulders. "Let's go find Serah," I said to my brother.


	4. She Who Would Be Godslayer

We weren't the only ones to find Serah. When we reached her at the head of a long staircase, she was already in the arms of a pink-haired woman, with a dark-skinned man with a puffy afro watched on, his face a mixture of sadness and confusion.

Of course, Snow reacted instantly. "Serah!" he shouted, running to her side.

The woman, who was obviously Lightning, tensed visibly. She'd made it clear on numerous occasions that she didn't like Snow, and clearly her opinion hadn't changed.

Vanille hovered over them, while Hope kept his glare up, boring into Snow's bandanna-clad head. I, on the other hand, stood next to the dark-skinned man. He wore a standard-issue pilot's jacket, and he had twin pistols – Vega 42s, I think they were – in holsters on his pants. "When did you two get here?"

"Not too long ago," he replied. "You know Madam Soldier there?" He pointed at Lightning.

I nodded. "All too well."

The man raised an eyebrow.

"Not like that!" I denied.

He smirked. "Sure you didn't. Well, she's dragged me along on a hare-brained scheme to kill the Pulse fal'Cie."

I looked at him. "Something tells me you didn't need much dragging."

His fist clenched. "We all have our reasons to hate the fal'Cie."

Clearly something was on his mind, so I changed the subject by sticking my hand out. "Not the best place to make introductions, but I'm Remus Cole."

The man smiled and shook my hand firmly. "Sazh Katzroy."

"Serah!" Snow cried out suddenly, and Sazh and I moved forward slightly.

Serah was looking up at Snow and Lightning, her expression hard to decipher. "Please… Save…Cocoon…"

Snow nodded vehemently. "I will. I'll save you and Cocoon."

Lightning remained silent.

Serah smiled weakly. "Thank you." She started to glow with an ethereal light. Slowly, from her feet up, she began to transform, crystallising. Her body rose from the ground, her transformation still going. A single tear started to fall from her eye as her hands came closer together in a gesture of prayer, or maybe supplication. A crystal base formed around her, and the tear, now crystal, fell at Snow's feet.

"Serah…" One hand picked up the crystal tear, while the other held onto hers. "I'll save you. I'll save you  _and_ Cocoon, I promise!"

Lightning moved quickly to his side and punched him in the face.

"Light!" I shouted, grabbing her waist.

She wriggled around in my grip, turning. "Let go!" She punched me, but unlike Snow, I didn't go down.

Snow looked up at the soldier. "What the hell? I'm trying to help your sister! She's my wife-to-be. I promised to be hers forever. No matter what! I'll help her!"

"Don't you think she's beyond your help?!" Lightning snapped.

I let her go and she gave me a parting hit on the chin. My head spun from the blow, and I massaged my chin with one hand. "Can we move on from this?"

Without another word, Snow started walking towards the nearby staircase, which led to a long hallway. That hallway, in turn, led to the chamber of the Pulse fal'Cie Anima.

"Hey, Trench Coat!" Sazh yelled to the departing Snow. "Where do you think you're going?"

My 'brother' stopped in his tracks and looked back. "Date with the fal'Cie. Got some things to talk about."

"Do you seriously think that you can talk it into saving Serah?" Lightning sneered. "You're out of your mind."

"Lightning!" I snapped at her.

She gave me a glare and I shut up.

Sazh sighed. "You two…" He started to follow Snow.

"What are you doing?" Hope snarled. He clearly didn't like anyone who followed Snow around.

"Makin' sure this guy doesn't get himself killed," the pilot replied.

I smiled. "That's my job, too." I walked into step with the two men.

A sudden rush of footsteps came from behind us; Lightning bolted straight past us and ran up the stairs.

"Hey!" I shouted, drawing my swords and running after her. Behind me, Snow raised his fists while Sazh pulled his guns out of his leg-holster; the two of them followed me and Lightning.

Hope was clenching his fists when he finally decided to chase us. Well, chase Snow. Vanille gave him a worried look before following.

The six of us left behind Serah's crystallised form. If we'd stayed, maybe we would have heard her voice call, " _Snow…_ "

* * *

When we reached the final stretch between us and the Pulse fal'Cie, it was covered in Cie'th. Some shambled along the floor, while others flew over the walkway.

I sighed. "Shoulda expected this. A fal'Cie always creates Cie'th when it feels threatened."

"I couldn't care less about the legends right now," Lightning muttered in her husky voice, drawing her gunblade from the holster hanging behind her legs. She ran at the nearest Cie'th, cutting it down almost instantly. Once that was done, she moved on to the next one. She was a good fighter to begin with, but her rage had made her almost unstoppable.

Sazh started strafing the Cie'th with his guns, jumping awkwardly when the massive Ghasts swung their club-like arms at him.

Snow, meanwhile, was fighting like a man possessed, throwing hand grenades from his pockets and using the smoke they created to cloak his movements.

A flying Cie'th suddenly floated in front of me, shrieking horribly. Worst thing was that, in my mind, I could hear a human voice, sobbing.  _Help me_ , it said.

I nodded and ran towards an archway, running up it for a brief moment before gravity started to take control back and I couldn't go any higher; at that point I sprang off the arch and slashed at the Cie'th with my two swords. The monster went down and started to fade into blackness. The voice then spoke in my head again, sounding relieved.  _Thank you_.

Within moments, the way was clear. Without another word, Lightning started running into the hallway that led to the fal'Cie's chamber. Snow was close behind, followed by me. Sazh stayed back slightly to guard Hope and Vanille as they came behind us.

The chamber of the fal'Cie was dark, and at the centre of it was a large steel dome with marks all over it. Screens adorned the many wires that protruded the dome. A recurring theme was the shield-like black mark with a red centre. The brand of the Pulse fal'Cie.

"This thing…is the Pulse fal'Cie?" Sazh asked, unimpressed.

Snow stood in front of it. "Hey! Serah completed her Focus! You told her what to do, and she did it! Are you happy now? Please! Just let her go."

The silence was oppressive.

My brother sank to his knees and shouted in a broken voice. "I'll be your l'Cie instead!"

"Snow!" I barked, grabbing his shoulder.

He shrugged me off. "No, Remus. I promised I'd do anything for Serah. Anything at all."

Lightning walked past us all, her gunblade still in her hand; she suddenly whacked the dome with her weapon.

"What the hell are you doin'?!" Sazh demanded.

"Serah told us to save Cocoon," she replied, looking balefully at Snow. "And as far as I'm concerned, the fal'Cie are Cocoon's problem! That means this thing has to die!" She swung again.

This time the blade bounced off the steel and out of Lightning's hand; she herself was blown back by an invisible force. A bright light suddenly emanated from the dome as it opened; nearby, two portals in the floor opened to reveal large, cylindrical appendages.

"Uh, Light?" I said, worried. "I think you pissed it off."

The dome opened fully to reveal the Pulse fal'Cie in all its horrible glory. The thing was metallic, a mixture of golden and silver hues, except for the pale purple crystals it had for a face. On one side it had a metal rod sticking out; a rod that could only be an arm.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Sazh shouted, backing off. "This is bad, real bad!"

I gave him a look. "Trust me, when you hang out with Lightning, 'bad' is par for the course!" I drew my swords.

"What, are you nuts?" he roared. "You really think you can kill a fal'Cie?"

"No," I replied. "But Light seems to think she can. And I am  _not_ letting her do this alone and get herself killed!"

Snow stood up slowly and let out an animalistic roar, raising his gloved fists.

Sazh looked down slightly, lost in thought. "Dajh…" he muttered. Then he looked up and drew his pistols. "Hope you three don't mind an amateur."

"Thanks," Lightning muttered.

Behind us, I heard Hope yell in shock and pain. The fal'Cie had placed a barrier on the doorway. No backing down now.

One of the cylindrical appendages suddenly drilled into the ground, sending sparks flying. We all cried out as the sparks hit us.

"We gotta take down those manipulator things!" I shouted the obvious.

Lightning silently nodded and attacked the one on our left. Following her lead, Snow, Sazh and I did the same.

After one of Sazh's bullets hit a circuit, the manipulator shuddered and fell, sparks shooting off it every once in a while. This drew our attention to the second one, which we all attacked at the same time, causing it to go down quickly as well.

My grip on my swords tightened as I looked at the fal'Cie. "Now it's your turn," I muttered.

It wasn't.

A bright light suddenly shone and blinded us.

* * *

The six of us were floating in some dark expanse, surrounded by green tendrils of light. "What the…" Sazh marvelled. "Where the hell are we?"

I looked above me to spy something terrible. "Uh…I have a few ideas."

The Pulse fal'Cie had shown us its true form. With a wave of one mechanical arm, the tendrils suddenly latched on to us. We all struggled, of course, but it didn't help.

The fal'Cie waved its hand again and another set of tendrils rushed at us. I saw two of them hit Sazh and Lightning in the chest, while another hit Snow's arm.

I heard Hope cry out in pain as he was hit as well, but, oddly, I didn't hear Vanille scream.

A tendril snaked over my chest before snapping into the back of my neck. I roared in pain.

The tendrils suddenly let us go and we fell.

In my mind, I saw blurry, grey-scale images. Waves, screaming people, a horrible beast roaring. Fire. Death.

It was then that I blacked out.


	5. Cursed

When I came to, my hand immediately grabbed my head, which was throbbing. Groaning, I sat up. "Everyone OK?"

Sazh was the first one up; he looked at our surroundings. "Is this…Lake Bresha?"

"Well, we're not swimming," I muttered. "But it sure looks like it's Bresha. Although…" I tapped on the surface below us. "Huh. It's crystal. The entire lake's been crystallised."

Snow stood up and looked at me. "What's happening?"

I shrugged. "Wish I knew, man."

Lightning's gaze shifted to her right and she went on guard, her hand going to the hilt of her gunblade.

I looked where she was looking and flinched slightly. PSICOM grunts.

"Hands in the air!" one of the soldiers ordered.

"I'll show you hands!" Snow muttered. He roared and his hand started flying to the soldier, but something was different. Something on his forearm was glowing a pale blue, the same colour as the crystal around us. The light coalesced into his gloved hand and he lashed out, the light turning into ice crystals, sending the PSICOM troops flying.

Snow looked at his hand, the spot on his forearm still glowing. "What did I…just do?"

"You used magic!" Hope snapped behind us. I sighed internally. This kid was starting to get on my nerves. "The fal'Cie cursed us! We're l'Cie now!"

More PSICOM grunts appeared, their guns up.

"No offence, kid, but right now we need to focus on not dying!" I shouted at Hope, drawing my swords.

Snow snapped out of his reverie and adopted a fighting stance. Behind me, Lightning drew her gunblade and Sazh pulled out his guns. I assumed that a light folding noise was Vanille pulling out her staff.

I started out doing things the traditional way, slashing the soldiers with my swords. Snow was punching troops one by one, his fists glowing with that same odd light. Sazh's guns were working overtime, giving Snow, Lightning and myself some cover fire.

Sudden gusts of wind flew past us and threw the PSICOM goons back; confused, I turned around to see that the wind was coming from Vanille. She threw a fireball at one of the guards and I snapped out of it.

It was then that I had a spark of an idea. I closed my eyes and imagined something in my head.  _Fire on my swords._

My eyes snapped open when I suddenly found that my swords – exactly like I'd imagined – were engulfed in flames. Roaring, I slashed at a soldier, burning part of the uniform. Sazh took advantage of that gap and shot the soldier in the exposed part of his chest.

After a while, the PSICOM troops who hadn't been killed broke ranks and ran, leaving us with three dead bodies.

I looked at Snow and saw what I hoped to be an illusion. The spot on his forearm was a strange mark, resembling a shield. Some of the lines on the mark were black, while there were underlying grey marks.

It was the brand of the Pulse fal'Cie.

I gasped hoarsely and fell to my knees. "The…the kid's right. We're l'Cie."

Snow looked down at me. "All of us?"

Sazh's eyes scanned our small crowd. His brand was barely visible under his low-cut black shirt. "Looks like it."

I stood up and calmed down. Snow looked at me closely. "You too?"

I turned around and raised my hair slightly to reveal the mark on my neck. "Yeah." I turned around. "You know, when I said I wanted a tattoo…"

"This isn't a time for joking," Lightning glared at me.

Hope was kneeling like I was before; his brand was under a bandanna tied to his left wrist.

I turned to Vanille. "What about you?"

The girl's usually cheery face was downcast as she nodded. "Yep." She moved her fur cape to reveal her upper thigh, complete with large l'Cie brand. It was darker than ours, and there was a red centre to it. "Right here."

Snow and I looked at each other. "Oh-kay…"

My gaze shifted to Lightning. "What about you? Where's your mark?"

She turned away quickly. "That's none of your business," she said quickly, harshly. Before she turned…was she… _blushing_?

"Right…" I drawled. "Maybe we should get to know each other better first."

Hope looked up at us, his gaze squarely on Lightning. "I don't even know you! Why'd you have to fight that thing?!"

The former soldier didn't say anything.

"Why she did it is beside the point," I said. After all, Snow and I knew full well why she'd attacked the fal'Cie. "The fact is it's done, and there's nothing we can do about it except complete our Focus. No way I'm gonna become one of those Cie'th."

Lightning walked away slightly, her hands on her hips. "Well, how are we supposed to complete our Focus if we don't know what it is?"

Vanille looked down, her hands clasped. "I think…I saw it."

"I did too," Hope added. "It was all sorta…grainy…but I saw a beast. Something…it was huge. And, and…and it was destroying everything."

I turned to him sharply. "I saw that too! I recognised the monster from the old stories. The ones about the War of Transgression. It was…"

Lightning and Snow looked at me. "Ragnarok," the three of us muttered.

Sazh put his hands on his hips. "That's the thing about a Focus. The fal'Cie don't give you clear-cut instructions. All you ever get is a hazy glimpse." We all gave him strange looks. "Well, that's what I've heard, anyway. Legends and all."

"Sure…" I smiled. Then it fell. "So what does Ragnarok have to do with our Focus?"

Snow turned to face away from us. "No point mulling over it. PSICOM will know we're here by now."

"He's got a point," I told the others. "We should keep moving."

* * *

There were a few encounters with PSICOM grunts as we ran through the crystallised lake, but not enough to worry about. Snow had ran ahead to scout around, fighting any militarized beasts and troops that showed up. When we finally caught up with him, he had a look of decisiveness on his open face. "We fight it! Ragnarok! That's our Focus! To stop it and save Cocoon!"

Sazh shifted on his feet. "How do you figure that?"

"Serah," he replied simply.

"What?" I asked him.

"She told us to save Cocoon," Snow explained. "When I said yes, she turned to crystal. That was  _her_  Focus. To get someone to help her save Cocoon!"

I crossed my arms and looked at him. "A bit roundabout, but… It makes sense."

Snow grinned at me. "That's it, Remus! We can complete our…"

"Our Focus?!" Lightning interrupted suddenly, drawing her gunblade and putting it to Snow's neck. "The fal'Cie took Serah away from us and now you wanna help it?!"

"Lightning…" I muttered, putting my hand on her shoulder.

She grunted and pulled her weapon away from Snow, letting him fall to the ground, panting from the shock.

Vanille put her hands in front of her like she'd done in the Pulse Vestige. "So…if we're gonna travel together…I mean, as l'Cie…we should all get to know each other."

"Good idea," Snow agreed, walking forward. "I'm Snow. Snow Villiers."

"Hope Estheim," the boy murmured quietly.

I smiled. "Most of you already know who I am, but for safety's sake, the name's Remus Cole."

"What about her?" Vanille asked, pointing at Lightning, who was walking ahead.

"Former soldier," Snow answered. "Goes by Lightning. Her real name's anyone's guess. Her last name's Farron. That's the one thing you can be sure of."

Sazh followed Lightning. "Sazh Katzroy. Good to meet ya."

"Well, let's go face our fate," I muttered, walking through the crystal tunnel.

* * *

We eventually reached a fallen steel walkway and started to cross it when we saw a familiar sight. Embedded in crystal, her nude body itself crystallised, her hands close together, was Serah.

"Serah!" Snow shouted, running towards her. He picked up a fallen pipe and started chipping away at the crystal around her.

"There's no point," Lightning muttered.

I turned to her. "What?"

She looked down. "This is goodbye…Serah."

Snow's head snapped up and at Lightning. "You're just gonna leave her?! She's your sister, and you're just gonna…"

Lightning wheeled around and punched him in the face. "Will you shut up?! There's nothing you can do! Open your eyes, and face reality!" Tears glistened in her eyes.

Snow sat up. "Lightning, stop this! Serah will be fine! I'll make sure of that!"

She punched him again. "What can you possibly do?!"

"Whatever it takes!" he shouted.

Her eyes opened wide and her clenched fist dropped to her side.

Sazh sighed. "You two are just like each other," he muttered, walking off.

Snow went back to trying to dig Serah out of the crystal, now assisted by Vanille. My eyes stayed on Lightning, who had her arms by her side.

There was a crash behind us, then we heard Sazh's panicked voice. "No! No no no no, not now!"

I turned to see a battered warmech walking slowly towards Sazh. Scars ran across the formerly pristine white shell, and the electronic eyes flashed on and off.

Sazh pulled out his guns at the same time as Lightning grabbed her gunblade.

I drew my swords, looking at the former soldier. "Friend of yours?"

"Not exactly." She ran up to the mech and slashed at it.

"Hold on, I got an idea!" Sazh shouted at us.

I looked at the mech, which was charging power. "Well, whatever you're gonna do, do it now!"

Sazh threw out one hand, having replaced one of his guns in its holster, and a bolt of electricity hit the mech. It shuddered and the power it had been charging dispersed.

"Nice one!" I shouted, grinning.

Sazh grinned back. "Just think about lightning and it'll come!"

Lightning looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"N-not like that!" he stuttered.

I laughed. "I knew what you meant!" I sheathed my swords with a flourish and threw out my hands, sending an electric bolt at the mech.

Lightning, meanwhile, had come up with a different plan. Her gunblade seemed to spark with electricity as she slashed at the mech. Like I'd done with the PSICOM grunts before, she'd put the magic into her weapon.

After a while of us repeating the procedures over and over again, the mech roared painfully and fell. It shuddered slightly and was still.

I sighed. "We did it."

Sazh looked back at Snow. "What are we gonna do about him?"

"Well, he won't wanna leave Serah," I answered.

"We have to keep moving," Lightning said.

Snow looked at us. "You guys go. I'll keep Serah safe. Like I promised."

I knelt down next to him. "You're sure?"

He nodded.

I clapped him on the shoulder. "I'll see you soon."

Snow grinned. "Sooner than you think."

Without another word, Lightning walked away. Hope followed immediately, followed by Sazh and myself. Vanille was the last one to follow, looking back at Snow, who had returned to his attempts to dig out Serah. She sighed and followed us.


	6. The Forgotten Ruins

Airships soared overhead, and PSICOM troops patrolled the area. "Great," Lightning muttered. "We're not alone."

I looked down at the soldiers. "Probably looking for any survivors."

Vanille looked at us. "Why would they be looking for survivors? To help them?"

Sazh scoffed. "Yeah, help 'em into the next life."

"What?"

"The whole 'free-ride-to-Pulse' thing? It's a damned lie."

Vanille said nothing.

"The Purge was never about relocation to Pulse for any l'Cie or anyone connected to them," I told her. "You don't relocate pests. You exterminate them." My mind returned to a scene I'd seen the day before NORA had attacked Hanging Edge. When Lightning and – as I now knew – Sazh got on the Purge train. The young couple who'd run from their lines, not wanting to go to the wilds of Pulse. They didn't get put back in the lines. Instead, PSICOM emptied their machine guns into them.

Vanille gasped. "I kinda wanted to…"

I looked at her. "Wanted to what?"

She looked up at me and shook her head. "It's nothing."

Lightning stood up from her crouched position. "We need to keep moving. If PSICOM catch us, we're dead."

Hope shouted something incoherently, pointing behind us. We turned and spotted a small battalion of PSICOM goons running up the crystal slope, their guns and batons gripped tightly. "Freeze!" one of them shouted. "Put your hands behind your heads!"

I sighed. "Come up with an original line, will you?" Nonetheless, I complied.

One of the troopers – the captain, presumably – stepped forward, having noticed that Lightning hadn't put her hands behind her head like ordered. "You fall off the Purge train?"

She chuckled shortly. "Maybe." She laced her fingers behind her head.

"You'd wanna hope you didn't," the captain told her, pointing his gun under her chin.

She smirked. It probably wasn't a good time to notice it but… _damn_ ,she was attractive. "Nice gun," she drawled.

"Are you talking back to me?!" the captain snapped, pushing her chin up.

Lightning didn't reply with words. She instead moved her hands to knock the gun up into the air and kick the captain square in the chest. He groaned and fell, knocking more than one of his allies over in the process. Lightning snatched the captain's gun out of the air and swung it like a club, catching more than one trooper's head.

I grinned at Sazh and drew one of my swords. I knocked one guard on the head with the flat part of the blade and kneed him in the back. The man shouted in pain and fell, unconscious.

Lightning pulled out her gunblade with a flourish and slashed at the last remaining guard, killing him.

I sheathed my sword and smiled at Lightning. "Stylish."

She chuckled. "Thanks." Without another word, she turned and started walking.

Hope was the first to follow her. I raised an eyebrow at that, but followed as well.

Apparently Sazh thought it was odd, too, because it was the first thing he brought up when he fell into step beside me. "What's up with the boy? He's following Soldier Lady around like a lovesick puppy."

"Well, it could be one of two things."

"And they are…?"

"One: he's got a crush on her. And, to be honest, how could he not?"

Sazh raised an eyebrow at me, but said nothing. "And the second?"

"The second is less light-hearted," I replied grimly. "Hope's got a grudge against Snow. A serious grudge."

"How serious?"

"Very. Hope blames Snow for his mother's death. She died fighting alongside us at Hanging Edge. She was on the Purge train with you."

"What does that have to do with Snow?"

"Well, as far as I can tell, in Hope's mind, Snow's a conniving, soulless SOB. No better than the fal'Cie. Which, as I'm pretty sure you already know, isn't true."

Sazh crossed his arms as we walked. "So, why does that connect into him following Lightning around?"

"Lightning doesn't like Snow. Never has. I guess Hope thinks that she can pass on tips on how to hate Snow."

"That sounds…kinda childish."

"We know that, but Hope doesn't. And something tells me that by the end of it all, he won't be using childish methods to pay Snow back."

Sazh whistled. "That don't sound good."

"Tell me about it," I muttered.

* * *

A few minutes later, we reached the end of the crystallised lake and saw stone ruins. Sazh looked up at them. "The Bresha Ruins. I'd heard about them, but never seen 'em. They've been excavating the place for a while now."

Vanille ran quickly up the long flight of stairs; she stopped when she reached the summit, which was surmounted by a stone archway. "Wow! Look at this!"

Lightning was the next person up the stairs, but she didn't look around, instead looking ahead, her hand on her hip.

Sazh stood next to the bubbly girl and followed her gaze. "Even the fire's crystallised."

I chuckled. "How's that work, huh? To hell with logic."

Without a word, Lightning started walking forward, her boots clicking on the stone floor.

"Wait up!" Vanille called, falling into step behind her.

As we walked, I looked up at the ruins, an interested look on my face. "Who built these? And when? Why did they build it?"

Sazh gave me a look.

"What? I'm a bit of a history buff." I smiled. "That's probably why I get along so well with Serah." From the corner of my eye I saw Lightning glare at me. "Sorry."

Vanille leaned back slightly to involve herself in the conversation. "What was that about Serah?"

"She's crazy about history," I told her. "Past civilizations, important events that happened many years ago, that sort of thing. Couple that with a curiosity that could give a cat a run for its money and you've got a dangerous concoction."

"How do you mean?" Sazh asked.

"Her curiosity and love of history was what led her to the Pulse Vestige in Bodhum. It's what eventually led her to becoming a Pulse l'Cie."

Vanille's face fell and she sighed.

Sazh looked at her. "What's wrong?"

Her head rose and she gave us a sweet smile. "It's nothing, really." She ran off ahead, passing even Lightning.

Sazh and I exchanged a look, then shrugged and kept walking.

* * *

We reached the centre of the ruins, which, despite the many years eroding the stone, was still a grand-looking structure. Sazh, Hope and myself were panting heavily from the many fights we'd gotten into with military units, beasts and troops. Vanille was still bouncing around irrepressibly, while Lightning stood with her arms crossed. "I thought you were in good condition," she said blandly to me.

I looked at her. "Shut up," I smiled.

Sazh gave off a heavy pant and stood upright. "These old bones ain't what they used to be."

Vanille scooted ahead again, giggling, a bright smile on her face.

"Don't stray too far," Lightning warned her.

The girl didn't seem to notice.

I grinned at Lightning. "Seems you really do care."

She rolled her eyes at me.

Behind us, Sazh looked like he was having a father-to-son-like talk with Hope, who was listening, albeit begrudgingly.

Vanille screamed.

We all turned to see the girl running back towards us, tailed by what the uneducated would call a dragon. Its skin was a pale green, with wires poking out of it in many places. It didn't have any visible eyes, and there was a second, gigantic maw on its back.

I grunted and drew my swords. "PSICOM sure loves their beasts, don't they?"

Lightning didn't give me a reply, instead drawing her gunblade.

Sazh grabbed Vanille's shoulders and put her behind us, along with Hope. The pilot drew his pistols and stood next to us.

I looked up at the monster. "You want us?! Come get us!"

It roared and charged at us.

Lightning dodged to the side, while Sazh shuffled back and opened fire on the monster. His bullets looked as if they were covered in fire. I, meanwhile, had jumped over the thing and stabbed it in the back with my swords. It howled and tried to throw me off. I held on and channelled the lightning magic into the swords, sending the electricity bolting into the beast. The howl this time was more pained than the last.

I leaped off the monster and landed awkwardly on my feet. "It's weak to electricity," I informed my friends. "Must fry the circuits or something."

Suddenly, the monster roared, not in pain, but in defiance, and flew away slightly. A pale light started shining around it.

"What's it doing?" Sazh shouted.

"Charging up," Lightning said grimly.

"Charging? Charging for what?"

"Its last moments."

"Then we gotta stop it!" I shouted, running towards the beast.

Before I could get to it, the monster let loose a beam of light that barely missed burning off my toes. "When'd it learn to do that?!" I demanded. "That's just not fair!"

Sazh struck the monster with an electric bolt, and Lightning joined me and slashed at the monster.

"Light! Give me a boost!" I shouted.

She nodded and grabbed my leg. With all her strength (which was a lot, by the way), she threw me up. I leaped over the snapping head of the monster and landed on its back. Turning, I sheathed one sword and started running up its long neck. The thing roared and tried to throw me off. I held on with my right arm and crawled up carefully. I eventually reached the end of its neck and locked my legs around it to support myself. I raised my sword above my head and stabbed the beast through the top of its head.

The roaring cut off in a sickening gurgle and it started to plummet to the ground. I jumped off and landed uncomfortably on my stomach before the monster fell, dead.

A hand grabbed my jacket and pulled me up. It was Lightning. She looked closely at me. "Nice work."

I grinned. "Couldn't have done it without you."

"Guys!" Sazh interrupted us. "Check this out!"

We walked over to see a PSICOM airship. It wasn't in good condition, but it looked flyable.

"Can you fly this thing?" I asked the pilot.

The chocobo chick poked out of his hair as he gave me an injured look. "Of course I can."

"Well, let's go!" Vanille giggled, climbing in.

* * *

As soon as Sazh took off, PSICOM ships took off in pursuit, firing at us. "How do they know it's us?" I demanded.

"PSICOM have a sixth sense when it comes to these things," Lightning told me grimly.

"Great," I deadpanned.

"Hang on!" Sazh suddenly shouted as he pulled the controls sharply to the left. The ship spun quickly, and Vanille and I cried out in alarm, but Lightning didn't seem fazed.

The soldier suddenly took the controls from Sazh and fired the rear guns at the pursuers. I heard an explosion shortly after. Clearly she'd killed at least one pursuer.

Sazh pushed her hand away and grabbed the controls back. "You wanna die?" he asked acidly.

"Just fly up," was all Lightning said.

Sazh complied, flying straight up. We broke out of the cloud cover to see a massive ball of energy.

"A fal'Cie," I murmured.

"Phoenix," Lightning clarified. "It's responsible for all the heat and light on Cocoon." She turned to Sazh. "Fly in."

"Are you nuts?" I demanded of her.

"Well, we're about to find out," Sazh answered, flying straight into the tendrils of red-orange energy. The PSICOM ships, inevitably, followed.

Big mistake.

Most of the ships were destroyed by rogue blasts of energy from the fal'Cie.

Sazh laughed shortly. "I like this fal'Cie!"

"You know what?" I grinned. "I agree with you!"

The smiles washed off our faces when we were hit by a flash of energy from Phoenix. Sazh calmly steered us downwards, since that was the only way we could go. "Hang on!" he shouted as we came close to the ground.

We braced ourselves for the impending blow.

The airship crashed into the ground, its belly grating along the gravel. When we came to a stop, Sazh looked around. "Everyone alright?"

I groaned. "Let's not do that again," I muttered.


	7. Captured

When we climbed out of the wreckage, we were surrounded by…more wreckage. This stuff looked foreign, though. Rougher, less refined. Was this…

"The Vile Peaks," I breathed.

"Hmm?" Vanille hummed, bounding up to me.

"I'd heard stories that…after the War of Transgression, the Sanctum collected the wreckages from the Pulse ships and carried them off here to rebuild parts of Cocoon. What was left, they just…left it. Turned the place into a garbage dump."

Vanille sighed and crossed her index and pinkie fingers of each hand over again. Was that some sort of tic for her?

Hope walked a little forward. "How'd we end up here?"

"How do you think, kid?" I said a bit acidly. "We crashed."

He glared at me and went for his back pocket, where his boomerang sat.

"Hey!" Sazh shouted, grabbing his arm firmly. "This ain't the time to fight amongst ourselves. We need to work together here. This place'll be full of baddies."

"PSICOM will inevitably track us here," Lightning muttered. "Not to mention all the Pulse automatons that'll be around here."

"They'd still be around?" I asked, worried. "I would've thought that they would've rusted out by now. The War of Transgression was hundreds of years ago."

"Pulse built things to last," she replied simply.

"Great."

"We need to get moving," Lightning said then, walking forward.

"I'll lead," I offered, running forward.

"Why?" Hope asked harshly. I sighed. Kid still didn't trust me.

"So I can focus on where we're going, while everyone else can cover our sixes."

"Sixes?" Vanille asked, smiling.

"It's a military term. Means our butts."

She giggled a little, and I grinned. Her enthusiasm was dangerously infectious.

I turned around to face the path. "Come on."

* * *

Our journey through the Peaks was fairly routine. Well, as routine as you'd think PSICOM grunts, their drones and Pulse automatons attacking you could possibly be. Eventually, we reached a part of the Peaks where the sky was easily visible, along with Eden high in the sky. "Let's stop here for a sec," I told everyone, looking at the panting Vanille and Hope. The boy might not like me, but I'd be damned if I let him die out here.

I sat down on a piece of hull left over from a Pulse ship. Lightning and Sazh stood nearby. "So what's your plan, Soldier?" the pilot asked.

Lightning's eyes flickered up to the sky before she answered. "I'm tired of running."

I raised my eyebrows. "What else do you expect us to do? The entirety of Cocoon thinks we're a plague that needs to be wiped out. PSICOM's pulling out all the stops to kill us. So what else are we gonna do except run?"

This time her look up at the sky was extended. I followed her eyes and saw she was looking directly at Eden. "No. You better not be thinking…"

"I am," she cut me off. "If the Sanctum wants a fight, we'll bring them a fight. I'm gonna bring down Eden."

"Yeah, right," Sazh muttered with a scoff. "That's the thinking of a Pulse l'Cie. Destroy everything Sanctum-related. Next you'll be wanting to destroy Cocoon as well."

Lightning's look was stern. There was no hint of joking in her eyes.

"You're serious?" the pilot said then, shocked.

"No!" I shouted, standing up. "This isn't what we should be doing! I hate to sound like Snow here, but we need an alternative! Something that doesn't make us mass-murderers! If we…if we bring down Eden, then we're no better than PSICOM."

"What else should we do?!" Lightning shouted at me. "I'm tired of running! The Sanctum wants a fight! I say we give it to them!"

I shook my head. "What would Serah say if she saw you doing this?"

She slapped me, hard. "Don't you dare talk to me about Serah!" Her voice was starting to break.

I shook my head again, this time to clear it. "Fine. You wanna go all kamikaze and destroy us all, fine. But you'll do it without me!" I looked at Sazh. "I'm going back. See if I can repair that ship and head back to Bresha. I'm gonna see Snow. Help him out." My gaze turned to Vanille and I smiled. "Take care of Hope, will you?" Without another word, I walked away.

The thing is…it hurt. It hurt so much, leaving them like that. Sazh had quickly become a friend, Vanille a little sister, even Hope was the snarky little brother who hated everyone's guts.

And Lightning…

I shook my head a third time and kept walking.

* * *

My hand hammered against the ship. "Piece of crap!" I growled. The damn thing wouldn't start up. I'd replaced the engine and everything. Only now was I starting to regret not going with Sazh and the others.

Suddenly, I was surrounded by troops. They looked like PSICOM, but at the same time…

"When will you guys quit?" I snarled, drawing my swords.

Some of the goons grabbed batons from their legs and charged at me. I blocked the clumsy strikes and slashed through their body armour impassively. The other troops, who'd held back, their guns raised, now opened fire.

I started to think on the defensive and was surrounded by a yellow light. The bullets bounced right off me. I smirked and ran at them again, cutting them all down.

Panting, I stood there, slumped, my swords still in my hands.

Behind me, I heard booted feet crunch on the gravel in a short rhythm. I turned and held up a sword in warning.

It was a woman. Tall, lithe, dark hair, a beauty spot on one cheek. Instead of the usual uniform, she wore a blue sari, and she carried a red spear in her hand. "Not bad," she drawled. Her accent sounded a lot like Vanille's. "I can see your Eidolon hasn't popped up to try and end you, at least." She pointed the spear at me.

I blinked at her. "Eidolon?"

"The so-called patron saints of the l'Cie. They're said to come when a l'Cie is in the pits of despair. Some say they uplift their spirits. I say they're a one-way trip to the great beyond." Her stance shifted and I saw…a Pulse l'Cie brand.

"You're branded… Why are you working for them?" I indicated the troops that surrounded her.

"Because they're right."

I growled. "Like hell they are." Roaring, I ran at her, my swords aloft. The woman raised her spear to block the strikes.

Block she did. Despite my tiredness, we traded blows for what felt like forever.

It was a small slip-up. I know that now. But it was still a big problem. My sword strike was a little too hard, and it let the woman block wide and nail me in the head. I fell, stars in my vision.

"Take him," she said to the troops around us. It was the last thing I heard before everything went black.

* * *

When I came to, I was being dragged along in what appeared to be an airship. Growling a little, I wrested myself out of the grip of the two soldiers holding on to me. "I can walk." The chains of my handcuffs rattled with my every move.

The woman was strutting in front of me. "You can relax, you know."

"Really?" I drawled. "Because the handcuffs tell me otherwise."

"We just had to be sure you wouldn't cause trouble."

In front of us was a young-looking man in a long white cape. Seriously, a cape. How melodramatic.

The woman pushed me towards the man. "We've got another one," she reported. Another one? What?

"Good work, Fang," the man thanked her in a dull-sounding voice. He looked at me then. "Apologies for all of this. My name is Cid Raines, Captain of the Cavalry."

I was unimpressed. "If you're really sorry, you'll get rid of these." I looked at the handcuffs pointedly.

Raines smiled a little and nodded to a soldier, who uncuffed me. "Thanks," I said a little condescendingly.

"I assume you're wondering why we were so rough with you," the good Captain said then.

"A little."

"For appearances, no more. You see, unlike most of the soldiers of the Sanctum, the Cavalry is quite independent, and we are fundamentally opposed to the Purge, and PSICOM in general."

"Wait…" My tactical brain was ticking over. "Are you trying to suggest an alliance between us l'Cie and you?"

Raines nodded.

"You've got a funny way of doing it."

"Perhaps this will convince you." He gestured to one side and a door opened.

Beyond it was a very familiar figure. I should know, I lived with the bastard for most of my life.

"Snow?!" I shouted, my face a mixture of joy and concern.

"Hey, Remus," the idiot grinned, walking forward and holding his arm out.

Grinning a little, I crossed my arm over his. "How'd you get here? Wait." I looked over at Raines and the woman he called Fang. "Never mind."

"You like this place?" Snow asked then, gesturing around. "We're on the  _Lindblum_ , the Cavalry's airship."

"Oh, so that's what it's called."

Fang stepped forward. "Hate to interrupt the pleasantries, but we have a few questions. You've been with the other l'Cie for longer than Lover Boy was. What news can you give us? What's their plan?"

My face fell slightly. "I don't know about 'their' plan, but…Lightning, at least, has a plan."

"What is it?" Raines asked.

I took a deep breath. "She plans to attack Eden."

"What?!" Snow exploded.

"I know. It's unbelievable. Sazh, at least, disagrees with it. As for the kids, Vanille isn't the confrontational type, and Hope's following Lightning around like a lost puppy."

Fang's face had shone suddenly with joy when I said Vanille's name, but it fell quickly. I chose to ignore it.

"So if Lightning's going to attack Eden…" Snow mused.

"She needs to get there first," Raines finished the thought.

I was racking my brains as well. "Palumpolum," I said suddenly.

"What?"

"Palumpolum offers a direct shuttle to Eden. That's where they're going. Well, Lightning and Hope, at least."

"PSICOM have a major presence there," Raines mused. "It's almost a definite that they will be challenged."

"Isn't Palumpolum GC jurisdiction, though?" a man in the Cavalry uniform with long brown hair asked.

"It is, Rydgea," the Captain replied, "but I fear it won't be long before PSICOM annexes all dependent branches of the army."

"Great," I muttered.

"So, Cid, what's the plan?" Fang asked, her hands on her hips.

"We get to Palumpolum," he said decisively. "Make sure the l'Cie are safe. Stop PSICOM right there."

"If there's PSICOM butt to be kicked, I'm there," Snow grinned.

I rolled my eyes. "You're a glutton for punishment."

"You'll be fighting too, right?"

"Of course I will, but not because I enjoy it like you."

Raines was looking on with an amused expression. "It's decided. Snow, Remus and Fang will lead a battalion into Palumpolum. Rydgea, you will lead another."

The brown-haired man nodded.

I broke out in a grin. "Let's do this."


	8. The Battle of Palumpolum

Just as we were about to launch our offensive on the PSICOM troops at Palumpolum to protect at least Lightning and Hope, Rydgea managed to intercept two PSICOM reports. I could see him running up to our mini war council on the bridge of the  _Lindblum_ , his face concerned.

Raines saw it and stood up straight. "What news?"

Rydgea was panting, his hands on his knees before he straightened. "Two PSICOM reports, Captain. One from a battalion near Nautilus, the other in Palumpolum itself."

Fang put a hand on her hip. "What'd they say?"

"The Palumpolum report said that Yaag Rosch will be leading them."

Raines' face became slightly panicked. "Rosch? That is bad news."

"How's that?" Snow asked.

"Rosch is the Director of PSICOM as a whole. He's a ruthless soldier who sees nothing but the goal he has been set."

"Great. Now we've got that to contend with," I drawled, turning to Rydgea. "Did the Palumpolum transmission say anything else?"

The Cavalry officer nodded. "They're procuring the services of the Guardian Corps."

"That's not good," I remarked. "You know things are bad for PSICOM when they're demanding help."

Raines nodded his agreement. "What about the Nautilus report?"

"It came from Jihl Nabaat, sir."

The Captain flinched slightly, but motioned for him to continue.

"It stated that they've captured two l'Cie within Nautilus itself, using a boy, a Sanctum l'Cie named…Dajh."

My eyes widened. "Dajh…that's…"

Fang looked at me. "That's what?"

"Sazh kept saying that name. I asked him about it once, in the Vile Peaks. He said…" I looked seriously at them all. "Dajh is his son."

Snow gasped quietly. "PSICOM used Sazh's own son to get to him?"

Rydgea seemed shaken as well. "Him and a girl. She didn't seem old, but the report suggested she may be older than she looks."

Fang flinched at this news, but regained her composure quickly.

"Must be Vanille," I mused, still a little shaken. "So we know now that it's only Light and Hope at Palumpolum. Once we pick them up, we'll have to grab Sazh and Vanille of PSICOM as well."

Raines nodded, all business. "Agreed. For now, let's focus on our assault. Fang, lead Snow and Remus to the armoury."

The tall woman nodded and started walking. Snow followed closely behind, while I moved quickly to fall into step beside her.

"So how do you know Vanille?" I asked her.

She glared at me, but there was shock behind the glare. "How did you…"

"Your reactions every time she was mentioned. It implies a strong connection, like sisterly or romantic love, or something like that. So…"

Fang sighed. "Vanille and I aren't from around here, as you've probably figured out by now. We're from Gran Pulse."

I blinked. "Gran Pulse? Have we been getting the name wrong?"

She smiled. "Probably. I should mention, we were born a long time ago."

"Meaning…"

"We were encased in crystal hundreds of years ago. I can't remember why, but we were."

"No wonder Vanille's brand looked so different."

She became deadly serious. "What did it look like? Did you see it?"

"I-I did. It was bigger than ours, and there was a red…eye-ish thing forming on it."

Fang's face softened a little. "Okay."

"Well, now that that's done, can we continue with your story?" I asked then, hefting a rifle. Snow was nearby doing the same thing.

"We woke up a few days ago in the Vestige, not remembering anything about what our Focus was. Something reacted when we tried to leave. Apparently a girl had come into the Vestige, and it marked her."

A terrible suspicion dawned on me. "Serah…" I breathed.

She nodded. "I would say I'm sorry, but it wouldn't wake her up."

I nodded slowly. "It's fine. Nothing you could do about it."

"We were separated a few days later. My brand's been scorched, but Vanille's hasn't, as you already know. I wasn't gonna just let her get turned into a Cie'th."

"I can understand that," I said, remembering something I'd said not long after I'd been branded.

Fang smiled at me. "We got separated because we accidentally got that Dajh boy branded by the Sanctum fal'Cie. I wasn't gonna let them take Vanille. The Cavalry found me before PSICOM did, and this is the end result."

A tear had started to fall at the sad tale. It was like I was feeling Vanille's pain for accidentally allowing Serah and Dajh to be branded as opposing l'Cie and accidentally causing the Purge in the process.

She clearly saw the tear and smirked. "Don't go crying over me, kiddo. You might forget all about your soldier."

I did a double take. "She's not my…"

Fang and Snow laughed. If it weren't for the alternative, I'd have seriously considered killing them.

* * *

We saw Director Rosch of PSICOM land, accompanied by several hundred troops and a few camera drones. A Cavalry trooper had managed to hack into the camera feed and had noticed that Lightning and Hope were surrounded, and that Lightning seemed to be telling Hope to run.

I looked at Snow. "Now?"

His response was to grin. "Now!"

A trooper set off a bomb on the wall to open out a cavern in it; we charged. Snow and I carried rifles, but I probably wouldn't be using mine for long.

Once the balcony was cleared, Fang put her hands on her hips. "What's the plan, Snow?"

My brother put his gun on his right shoulder and grinned at her. "Since when have heroes ever needed plans?"

I sighed and threw my gun at Fang. "Again with the hero thing."

Snow put his arm in front of him. The brand on his wrist started to glow and a crystal resembling an ice shard rose from it. "Shiva!" he shouted, throwing the crystal in the air and shooting it.

A massive aura of light and dark blue runes appeared where the crystal once was, two lights at the epicentre. Eventually the lights coalesced into what appeared to be women, one a dark blue, the other a lighter shade. They fused hands and their bodies changed, transforming into – of all things – a motorcycle.

I started back. "What the hell?!"

"Remember what I said about Eidolons?" Fang shouted. "That's Snow's. The Shiva Sisters."

"Nice," I breathed.

Snow jumped aboard the Shiva-cycle (like the name I gave it?) and turned to us. "Fang! Hop on! Remus, you slide on behind us and get below! Help Light!"

"Slide?! Slide on what?!"

He grinned. "You'll see." He took off, leaving a trail of ice behind him.

I shook my head. "Damn show-off." I grinned and started sliding down the ice to ground level. When I reached that, I jumped off the ice and grabbed two fallen rifles. Spreading them wide, I emptied them of bullets, taking down several PSICOM and GC troopers in the process. When the guns were empty, I threw them away and ran to Lightning, who stood nearby. "Long time no see!"

"What did…"

"Long story short, I got taken in by the Cavalry..." Here I pointed at one of the soldiers in blue. "…and we organised this little rescue party. You like it?"

"Tch," she scoffed, looking away. "You've spent too much time with Snow."

"I know, and it's made me impulsive. Impulsive enough to do this, at least." Risking life and limb, I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her in for a kiss.

Lightning protested, hammering my shoulder with the hand that didn't hold her gunblade, before I pulled back, panting.

"Sorry. Had to do it at least once. If we're gonna die here, I'm gonna die not regretting any missed chances."

She glared at me, but there was a blush hidden behind that glare. "Next time…warn me."

"There's gonna be a next time, then?" I grinned.

Lightning raised a fist, and I shut up.

Snow, sans Fang, pulled up on the Shiva-cycle, grinning. "Good to see you, sis."

"I'm not your sister," she replied flatly. She tilted her head at Hope, who had been watching on, his face a mixture of rage and confusion. "Take care of him. We'll meet at his house. It's further inland."

"I'll keep the kid safe," he promised.

I pulled out my communicator and called Fang. "It's me. We're meeting up at the Estheim residence further into town. Can you meet up with us there?"

"I can do better than that. I'll catch up to you near the town square."

"Copy that." I put the device away and looked at Snow. "You hear that?"

He nodded. "I'll see you there." Having banished the Sisters, he dragged Hope along by the arm, going further in town, beyond the field of ice he'd left behind.

I turned to Lightning. "Shall we?"

She rolled her eyes and walked forward. I grinned as I remembered what I'd just done and followed close behind.


	9. Eidolon

When we met up with Fang further in town, she'd explained to Lightning the truth of Serah's branding and apologised. Lightning stood in front of her now and slapped her across the face. Seemingly unperturbed, Fang looked at her. "That it?"

"You'd better hope so," the pink-haired soldier told her. She turned to me. "Did you know?"

I nodded shyly, hoping to avoid a punch. "I found out about it before we attacked."

Surprisingly, she didn't hit me. "You avoid a punch this time. Alright?"

"I'll be good," I said with an air of meekness.

Fang stood up from where she was leaning against the wall. "We should get moving."

"Yeah," I agreed, standing behind her.

Lightning scoffed lightly and fell into step next to us.

Almost immediately, we were attacked by a mixed group of PSICOM and Guardian Corps troopers. Worse was that civilians were around too. They could get caught in the crossfire. If only we could…

"I have an idea!" I shouted to Fang and Lightning. "I'll lead the soldiers away! You guys keep moving!"

"But what about…" Lightning started.

"Don't worry!" I assured her. "I'll be there, alright?" Then I moved closer to the soldiers. "Hey! PSICOM losers! I'm a big, bad l'Cie! Come and get me!" I ran away, hoping the troops would follow me.

Several sets of feet scuffled around behind me, chasing me. I grinned and stopped at a less inhabited area to fight them.

It was short, but brutal. PSICOM had brought in jet-troopers, who were a royal pain, but I eventually stopped them.

A small crowd of residents had formed without my noticing, so I was more than a little shocked when a rock hit me in the side of the head. I turned to notice that they'd all picked up rocks or sticks and were shouting abuse at me.

"L'Cie scum!"

"Go back to Pulse and stay there!"

"Leave us alone!"

"Get lost, monster!"

I don't know what it was. Whether it was the fact that I'd been hunted by the government that once sought to protect people like me for days, or the ungratefulness of the people whose lives I had just saved. Either way…I snapped.

"What is wrong with you people?" I asked them. "You think I chose this? You think I chose to be marked? You think I chose to become the monster under the bed?! Well, I didn't! I was forced, I had no choice! A few days ago, I was living an ordinary life! A peaceful life! On Cocoon! And now look at me. The entire Sanctum wants me dead. Well…" My eyes burned and I felt an aura of power around me. "I'd like to see them try."

The crowd hesitated and started to step back.

I could feel a pain beginning to grow in my neck, on my brand. "My name is Remus Cole. I am a resident of the beachside town of Bodhum on Cocoon. I am a Pulse l'Cie!" The pain grew. "But above all… _ **I AM HUMAN!**_ " The pain exploded and I roared in pain, dropping to my knees.

Terrified, the crowd dispersed as something began to coalesce in front of me. It was massive, its colouration a mix of platinum, gold and various shades of blue. It was humanoid, but was both organic and mechanical. I could see a large shell on its back. It carried a long sword in its right hand, a regal-looking blade…and yet thirsty for blood. Mine.

I stared balefully up at the figure. "What are you things? Huh? You Eidolons? Are you a test? A trick? A trap? Or are you here to put us out of our misery?!"

I could hear its voice – powerful, frightening yet calm – in my mind.  _Face me_ , it said.  _Engage me in battle and prove thyself._

I grit my teeth and roared, drawing my swords.

The voice sounded slightly smug this time.  _Excellent_. The Eidolon raised its free hand towards me. From it, dark shades began to form and lashed out at me; one hammered into my body and I gasped hoarsely. I could feel my life force beginning to drain. Slowly but surely, I was dying.

Something told me that the only way to survive would be to defeat this thing, this Eidolon. I ran in, swords raised, and attacked. The Eidolon blocked the strikes with its sword and launched a slow but powerful strike at the ground. I jumped over the sword and the shockwave it left behind and landed on one massive arm. I ran up it and launched myself at the metallic face. To my horror, my swords bounced off it with almost no effect whatsoever. The slow decrease in my life's energy had slowed. Maybe…maybe every time I hit it the fight would get easier.

I jumped down and the Eidolon grabbed the shell on its back and launched it at me like a discus. I leaped over it and moved in to launch quick strikes at the legs. With every hit, I could feel the energy loss decrease.

The Eidolon reared back in a silent roar and used its free hand to catch the shell and replace it on its back. The hand then lashed out with a torrent of water, which I dodged. I then launched a bolt of electricity at the thing, figuring that – if it used water – it must be weak to electrical damage.

I was right. The pressure within myself decreased phenomenally. The Eidolon sheathed its sword behind the shell and held out both hands, unleashing a massive torrent. Thinking quickly, I went on the defensive to block the attack; I felt the yellow nimbus cover me.

Despite the fact that I had blocked the attack, I wasn't feeling too good. I put a though of healing into my mind and managed to make myself feel better. So I could heal myself, too? Nice.

The Eidolon suddenly froze in the middle of its preparations to strike at me.  _You are worthy_ , the voice said in my mind, a mixture of confusion and satisfaction.

It began to change. The shell dissolved into the metallic back and the entire body condensed in some way, shape or form. The limbs changed into wing-like appendages, and the entire body began to take on the form of…a jet.

Something within me told me to hop on board. Smiling a little, I put my swords away and jumped up onto the jet. "Holy…"

 _I am Cagnazzo_ , the voice told me in a reverent tone.  _Thou art worthy of my services. Use them as thou must_.

It was as if something clicked then, something always known, but only now determined. "Thank you, Cagnazzo."

_Thanks art not needed. I but do my duty._

"Jeez, let me compliment you, will ya?"

There was a silence, and the voice sounded amused when it next spoke.  _You are welcome, Master._

The Eidolon began to shimmer and I fell to the ground, landing shakily on my feet. The jet transformed into a dark blue crystal shaped like a crescent. Like the moon. I chuckled.

I heard two sets of scuffling feet and saw Fang and Lightning appear. Lightning seemed oddly concerned, while Fang was very calm.

"The False King, eh?" the tall woman smiled. "Impressive that you took it down alone. Or maybe it's just dumb luck."

"Uh, thanks?" I chuckled. The crystal in my hand dissolved and I felt a light pressure on the back of my neck.

To my shock, Lightning stepped forward and hugged me. I blinked, my arms hanging by my side.

When she pulled back, she punched me in the shoulder, hard.

"Ow!" I complained.

"Never scare me like that again," she ordered gruffly, a microscopic blush on her cheeks.

"Uh, okay…"

Without another word, she walked forward, making her way towards where we'd been told Hope's house was.

Fang held back and leaned towards me. "I think she's getting sweet on you."

I looked at her, trying to keep my face impassive, despite the desire to grin. "You think so?"

The Pulsian nodded and gripped my shoulder. "Good luck getting her to show it, though." She began to follow Lightning.

I smiled as I watched them walk forward. "Maybe when this is all over," I murmured to myself before following.

* * *

When we finally caught sight of Hope's family home – way up on a cliff – we weren't exactly thrilled by what came next. Not far away from the house came an explosion of energy. Orange energy.

Cagnazzo's voice called out to me from the crystal embedded within my body.  _Methinks that may be thy friends, the ones known as Hope and Snow._

 _I hope you're wrong_ , I replied.

_As do I._

Fang gasped a little at something and I strained my eyes to look. Sure enough, two figures – one tall, in a grey coat, the other small and in orange and yellow – fell from a balcony. "Snow!" I shouted.

"Hope!" Lightning chorused, her expression one of concern. There seemed to be something familial about that concern, motherly or sisterly. I didn't have time to ponder it now, though. I had to save them. I started forward before Fang grabbed my arm.

"We can't get to them! They'll be swamped by PSICOM in no time!"

"But…"

"We have to move!"

Lightning still looked worried, but she nodded. "Fang's right. We have to keep going."

I sighed and looked over to where they'd fallen. "Snow… If you die, I'm gonna kill you."


	10. Familial Bonds

We'd finally reached a courtyard that led directly to the Estheim house. Though there were a few shocks there for us. One: Snow and Hope had beaten us there. Two: Snow was out cold, leaning on a wall. Three: A giant mech had appeared and Hope was fighting it. Alone.

The three of us ran in, weapons ready. "Fang! Watch Snow, will you?" I ordered.

"Why not you?" she demanded.

"I've got a bridge to build."

Fang looked at me briefly before nodding and putting her lance on her back, running to Snow. Lightning and I ran to back up Hope.

"You OK?" Lightning asked the boy.

"Better now," he replied in a fairly humorous tone. I blinked. Something had changed within this kid that I must have missed when I left the group.

"As much as I'd like to have a friendly conversation," I said blandly, "we've got a fight to win."

"Right!" Hope concentrated and launched a barrage of strong electric shocks at the mech, which flinched and lashed out with its steel pincers.

 _Use me!_ Cagnazzo suddenly shouted within my mind.  _There is no better time!_

 _Okay._  I looked at the others. "Get back!" I shouted.

They blinked, but fell back, out of the way.

On an instinct I didn't know I had, I reached behind me and pulled the moon-shaped crystal from my neck. "Cagnazzo!" I shouted, launching it into the air and hitting it with my sword. In a burst of circular runes, the Eidolon appeared, its royal sword ready. "Flush them out!" I roared for effect.

 _It shall be done!_  Cagnazzo roared silently as it attacked the mech. I ran in beside it, slashing at the enemy with my sword.

 _Master_ , the Eidolon said to me then.  _My Gestalt Form._  It slammed its sword into the ground and discarded the shell on its back.

"Together now!" I proclaimed, sheathing my swords.

The Eidolon slowly took the form of the jet once again and I leaped onto it.

"Now we fly!" I grinned.

 _Torrent Shield!_  the Eidolon's voice called in my mind, causing a wall of water to block a sheet of flame that the mech had fired at us.

"Hold him back!" I shouted, pointing.

 _Rip Current!_ the voice replied, sending a sheet of water to appear around the flying mech, which tried to free itself with bursts of fire. It failed, and the mech seemed to get enraged. It roared something and charged right through the water and towards me.

Cagnazzo moved swiftly to avoid the attack and shouted,  _Hydro Blast!_ From its front came a massive water spout, aimed squarely at the mech. It flinched and sparked, the electrics clearly becoming flooded.

 _Let us end this,_ the Eidolon said to me in my mind, moving us to the discarded sword.  _Take up mine sword, and use it as thou uses thine own._

I nodded and grabbed the sword, which immediately bifurcated into two swords. Grinning, I jumped off Cagnazzo's back and into the air, crying, "Now we end it!"

 _Tsunami!_  the voice shouted silently, even as I waved the swords in front of me, sending a titanic wave at the mech. The sparks grew and began to catch on the flamethrower the mech had. Any moment now, it would explode.

I landed on the ground feet-first, the swords held aloft. I put them back into one sword and threw it at Cagnazzo, who caught it under a wing. "See you later," I smirked as the jet dissolved and returned to my neck in crystal form.

Behind me, the mech was writhing and flaming, clearly in its death throes. I looked back at it and smirked cockily. "Bye now."

As if responding to those words, the mech flew backwards, still writhing. After a moment, it exploded, the shockwave hitting me, but not knocking me over. My black jacket buffeted in the wind, and my brown hair became a little wind-swept.

With a smile, I walked back over to Lightning and Hope. "And that, my friends, is how you  _really_ use an Eidolon."

Hope chuckled a little, while Lightning punched my arm.

Fang stood nearby, an unconscious Snow draped over her shoulder. "Is someone gonna help me with Bandanna here?" she demanded.

I chuckled and walked over to her, putting Snow's other arm around my shoulder. "I'll take him myself. It's my job, after all."

She put his arm down and looked at me dubiously. "You sure? Isn't he a bit heavy?"

I grinned at her. "Nah. He ain't heavy. He's my brother."

* * *

A little later, Hope had led us to his house, where we were met by his father. Bartholomew, he'd introduced himself. He and Hope had a talk about the absence of his mother, whose name I discovered to be Nora, in a sad irony. Shockingly – or maybe not – Bartholomew had let us stay for one night. We were friends of his son, he'd proclaimed, and that was good enough for him. He'd also organised for a doctor who wouldn't ask questions to treat Snow. The man in question now lay on a bed shirtless, his ribs bandaged up. I sat on a stool nearby, while Lightning stood on the other side of the bed, her arms folded.

Snow stirred and we both looked at him. When he opened his eyes, he looked at Lightning. "Serah?"

The former soldier flinched a little. "Close, but not quite."

I chuckled a little. "Welcome back to the land of the living, buddy."

He turned to me. "Remus? What did…"

"We're at Hope's place. His dad's letting us stay the night. Unlike the rest of Cocoon, he doesn't want to shoot us on sight. Maybe because Hope's with us. Whatever."

Snow looked at the ceiling, his face hard to decipher. "It's my fault, just like he thought. I'm the reason she's dead."

"Stop that," I said sternly. "It was her choice to come with us, not yours." I broke out in a smile. "Looks like Hope's turned around, too."

"How do you mean?"

"He told me that Operation Nora didn't work out," Lightning put in.

I tilted my head and looked at her.

"That's what he called it. His plan to get back at Snow."

"Huh. What an irony that a woman named Nora died helping a group with the same name, huh?" I murmured sadly.

Lightning said nothing, looking at Snow. Her face wasn't angry like it normally was when she looked at him. This time it was more…compassionate. "You're OK?"

Snow grimaced as he tried to sit up. "I'm alive, if that's what you mean."

"I'm sorry," she said suddenly.

"Huh?" Snow blinked. "For what?"

"For not understanding about Serah. You were right. She'll come back."

I grinned to myself. Maybe it would be a happy family after all.

Snow must have thought that as well, because he smiled at her. "Hey, Light. What's your real name?"

Lightning looked at him, amused. "Have Serah tell you when she comes back."

Snow chuckled and sat up painfully. He stood up, grimacing, but he seemed fine otherwise. He put on his coat and half-limped out of the room.

I stood from my stool and walked over to Lightning. "Listen, uh…about that kiss…"

She looked at me with those piercing eyes. "What about it?"

"I just, er…" I couldn't hold her gaze for long. "It was just…something I needed to do."

"Look at me," she ordered, and I complied. Without another word, she pulled me forward and gave me a chaste kiss on the lips. When she pushed me away, I blinked.

"Don't expect that to happen too often," she warned. There was a pause. "I liked it. The kiss, I mean."

"Y-you did?"

"If I didn't, I wouldn't have kissed you again."

I smiled. "The next one will be when this is over. OK?"

The ghost of a smile appeared on her face. "Sure."

There was a knock on the doorframe, and Hope was there. "My dad wants to talk to you all."

Lightning and I looked at each other and we nodded.


	11. Yaag Rosch

Every one of us that had been involved in the events in Palumpolum was here, in the same room. Snow had his jacket draped over his bare shoulders, his chest covered only by the bandages that covered his injuries. I stood not far from him, my arms crossed. Lightning and Hope were both sitting down; the former soldier was ramrod straight, her legs together and hands in her lap, just like she'd (probably) been trained, while Hope sat as relaxed as anyone could under the circumstances.

Bartholomew Estheim sat beside his son, his chin resting on his hands. Looking at him now, I noticed finally that Hope resembled his mother rather than his father. Bartholomew had spiky, dirty blonde hair that was beginning to recede, and thin-rimmed glasses rested on the bridge of his nose.

Snow stood from his seat and dropped to his knees, hands resting on the carpet of the house. "It was my fault. Your wife didn't come back because I asked them to fight…"

I sighed behind him and bowed to Bartholomew. "Mine too. I was the one who let her follow us."

The widower just looked at us before pinching his brow. "Did Nora…did she say anything to you?"

Snow looked up at him and replied simply, "She said to get him home. Hope."

The boy in question let his eyes widen. Clearly he'd somewhat forgiven Snow, but this was obviously news to him.

Bartholomew let those words sink into all of us before nodding and letting a kind smile form on his face. "And you did just that."

Everyone relaxed visibly, even Lightning, who let an indulgent smile rise on her face.

"Face to face like this," the man continued, "it's hard to believe you're all…dangerous fugitives."

I smiled slightly. "The Sanctum always told us that the threat from Pulse was monsters. Turns out…" I let my eyes fall on Fang as I said this. "They're even more human than we are."

If Fang had a reaction to this, she didn't let it show on her face, though I could have sworn I saw the twinges of a smile grace her lips.

"What do you all plan to do now?" Bartholomew asked us. "You can't run forever."

"We're going to Eden," Hope answered him. "Though…what we're gonna do there is anyone's guess, really."

"The whole Sanctum is scared to death of l'Cie. You especially."

"Rightfully," I added grimly. "We've been screwed around by them for too long."

The power suddenly cut off, the lights dimming to black, and the news report on the battle silencing.

"They've found us," Lightning reported.

"Why are things never easy?" Fang drawled.

A massive explosion rang out nearby, causing Hope and I to block Bartholomew from falling debris.

"They sure know how to make an entrance!" I shouted.

"Snow!" Hope called. "Fall back and take care of my dad!"

The order hung there for a moment, and in that moment I saw the significance of it. The whole time I'd known Hope, from inside the Pulse Vestige at Hanging Edge to our trials in the Vile Peaks, he'd been hell-bent on only one thing: punishing Snow for his mother's death. But now, even after all that, Hope was putting the life of his remaining parent in Snow's hands.

The kid really had grown up.

Snow nodded and escorted Bartholomew to another part of the house, one that probably wouldn't get stormed by PSICOM.

And, speak of the devils, and they shall appear. Several PSICOM troopers roped in from a dropship wielding batons, rifles and – problematically – rocket launchers. One of them, who carried a large bazooka, pointed at us. "Kill the l'Cie! Open fire!"

The ground troops shot at us immediately, without hesitation. Fang and I tipped the steel coffee table onto its side for some impromptu cover, which the two of us hung behind.

"Now what do we do, genius?" Fang asked over the gunfire.

"Leave that to the three of us. Hang back." I ran beyond the table to meet up with Lightning and Hope, who were fighting back with bursts of magic, a tactic I adopted as well, mostly launching shards of ice and bursts of water at the enemies.

 _Master_ , I heard Cagnazzo's booming voice in my mind.  _Mayhap thou might attempt stronger magic_.

 _And how exactly am I gonna do that?_  I replied, the snark obvious in my tone.

_Simply think it and it shall appear._

_Alright, but you'd better be right about this._  I closed my eyes and thought of a stronger torrent of water before lashing out with my hand.

Sure enough, a large ball of water launched at two of the grunts, sending them reeling long enough for Lightning to shock them, ending it.

I could have sworn I felt Cagnazzo's smugness, but I ignored it.

Once the house was cleared, I saw Snow and Bartholomew returning even as I heard more troops dropping. Snow looked at me. "My turn now." Breathing heavily, he pulled his coat off and hid himself behind the door. Sighing, he held the coat up to the shattered window.

Inevitably, the soldiers turned the coat into cheese, putting thousands of holes in it. Snow let the coat fall. "You want a l'Cie? I'll show you what a l'Cie looks like!" And with that, he stepped out with his hands in the air. Though the soldiers didn't open fire like I'd privately feared, they did train laser sights on his chest and forehead. "Yeah. I'm a l'Cie. But I was born on Cocoon, the same as all of you. Were you expecting some sort of monster?"

The soldiers hesitated visibly.

"Up until I got this…" Snow showed his brand, which made the troops shift. "…I was a normal guy, living in a beachside town with my brother. Same as some of you might have been."

A strong voice interrupted Snow's speech. "You must be Snow Villiers."

The voice's owner stepped through the ranks of soldiers. His coat vaguely resembled the one Raines wore, but it was dark and had no cape. A scimitar was belted at his waist, and it seemed that he knew how to use it. His face looked slightly battered not by war, but by life itself, and his hair was an iron grey. "Yaag Rosch. PSICOM Division."

My eyes widened, and I heard Lightning's gasp. "Colonel…"

"I understand your plight, Mr Villiers. Truly I do. But the people of Cocoon are afraid. Afraid of Pulse. And so we had to take measures."

"What, by slaughtering innocents in the Purge?" Snow lashed out. "How does that make any damn sense at all?"

Rosch's calm demeanour fell immediately. "Do you think we wanted to Purge our own people? It was the mob mentality. The people are so afraid of Pulse that if we hadn't done it, they would have done it themselves!" He calmed down visibly. "I am sorry that it had to be this way, Mr Villiers. For you and your friends."

_Clang!_

Everyone looked for the source of the noise. It was a smoke grenade.

"What?" Rosch cried. "Who threw that? I gave no order to fire!"

Gunfire suddenly roared out – from a few of the PSICOM soldiers, aimed at the others.

"No!" I heard the Director of PSICOM shout before a groan of pain and a clattering as he fell. Was he dead?

Had he been killed by his own men?

A shuddering noise interrupted my thoughts. The engine of a dropship. " _Nowhere to run, l'Cie!_ " a voice broadcast over the ship's PA.

Lightning, Hope, Fang and I stepped forward, moving in front of Snow. "Our turn, hero," the soldier smirked, drawing her gunblade.

I drew my swords and looked at him. "Go back in and tie Bartholomew up. Tell him that if anyone asks, we forced him to help us."

Snow gaped at me for a moment before nodding and heading back inside.

Lightning then turned her gaze to me. "Can you summon him? Your Eidolon?"

"Me? I think so, why?"

She smirked at me. "Just trust me."

"Okay," I breathed as I reached for my brand to grab the crystal. "Cagnazzo!" I called, shattering it with my sword. Within moments, the Eidolon was at my side.

_You called, Master?_

_Lightning's got a plan. I don't know what it is yet. Just…trust me, OK?_

_It shall be done._

I felt a pressure build nearby and saw Lightning being surrounded by glyphs herself, though hers were accompanied by rose petals. From the glyphs spawned a majestic-looking thing, humanoid save for how metallic he looked, wielding a twin-sided scythe and a shield on his arm.

I felt Cagnazzo tense slightly as my Eidolon faced Lightning's. I could tell that they were conversing in some way I could never comprehend. Eventually, Lightning's Eidolon nodded and they adopted battle stances, facing the dropship.

"Get your Eidolon to throw mine!" Lightning cried suddenly, jumping up onto her Eidolon's shoulder.

"What?" I shouted, barely comprehending.

"Just do it!"

 _You heard that, right?_  I sent the thought to him.

_Yea, though methinks thine damsel is somewhat deranged._

_She's not 'my damsel', but yeah, I think you might be right._

Cagnazzo didn't respond, instead planting his sword into the ground and grabbing the other Eidolon by the waist before hurling it – and Lightning – at the ship.

"Odin!" I heard her shout as they flew upwards, and with that, the Eidolon entered what I presumed was its Gestalt form, seeing as that's what Cagnazzo had called it when he became a jet. Oddly enough, Odin's form was that of a white horse; Lightning grabbed the twin-sided scythe and split it into two, creating two separate weapons for herself.

I felt the power surge more than I saw it. I felt the static electricity build until a blue bolt crashed into the cockpit of the ship – a strike so powerful that it immediately overloaded and began to fall in a ball of fire.

Lightning and Odin landed, and the Eidolon was dismissed. The pink-haired soldier looked at me, clearly expecting me to make a comment.

"You know how I said how I used an Eidolon was the way to do it?" I complied. "I lied. That is."

Lightning smirked, something she seemed to be doing a lot lately.

Then another dropship appeared, ready to open fire on us.

"Not again!" Hope whined, and this time I agreed with him.

"Do these guys never give up?" Fang demanded.

The ship suddenly exploded into a ball of flames. We blinked.

Then a  _third_  dropship landed on the platform, with several guards hopping out, including one who literally swaggered his way towards us, his gun on his shoulder. He reached up and pulled off his helmet. There was the shock of brown hair.

No freaking way.

"Heya, Fang," Rygdea smirked at us. "Need a ride?"

And there was the cowboy drawl.

"Don't get cute," Fang smiled, sheathing her spear. "Relax, guys, he's with us."

Lightning looked at me and I nodded. "He's Cavalry. One of the good guys."

Relenting, Lightning sheathed her gunblade, while Hope collapsed his boomerang and slipped it into his pocket.

"Those PSICOM soldiers who opened fire…were they yours?" I demanded of the Cavalry Captain.

"I mighta had somethin' to do with it," Rygdea smiled innocently.

I shook my head. "You're one conniving SOB."

"I know. But that's why Cid likes me so much." His smile became an indulgent grin. "And why Fang loves me so much." He looked at the woman in question. "Ain't that right, sweetie?"

Fang scoffed. "If I swung that way, maybe. As it is, no."

"Every time," Rygdea lamented. "Oh, well. I can live with it."

"C'mon, everyone. Hop on!" Fang ordered us all.

From the corner of my eye I saw Lightning blushing deeply. "Something up?" I asked her as we walked to the ship.

"Fang…she's…"

"Yeah. What about it?"

"She…she saw my brand…"

"And it's where again?"

Lightning sighed somewhat angrily and stopped walking before spinning around. After the disguised Cavalry troopers helped pull Snow into the ship, she unzipped the top of her brown vest to reveal where her brand was: smack-dab in the middle of her breasts.

"Oh…" It dawned on me then. "So you're a little worried that Fang might have just used looking at your brand as an excuse to…"

"Don't. Say. It," she ground out, hiding her brand again.

"Okay, okay, silent as the grave, I got it." I grinned as we kept walking.


End file.
